A New Flag
by SkyGem
Summary: After the Summit War, the Whitebeard pirate crew splintered and fell apart like so many shards of glass, and everyone knew it would never be the same again. But who would have guessed that, just a few years later, they would all start reuniting under the Straw Hats' jolly roger? No pairings. Canon-divergence after Dressrosa arc.
1. Enter Marco the Phoenix

Summary: After the Summit War, the Whitebeard pirate crew splintered and fell apart like so many shards of glass, and everyone knew it would never be the same again. But who would have guessed that, just a few years later, they would all start reuniting under the Straw Hats' jolly roger? No pairings. Canon-divergence after Dressrosa arc.

* * *

Quite fittingly enough, Marco ends up being the first one to join them.

After the Summit War, his family falls apart, each of them knowing they need some time alone to deal with their grief in their own way. But the days and months and years pass by, and they don't fall back together again. Their oyaji had been the glue that held them together, and without him, their crew has no hope of working out.

Marco knows his siblings love him and respect him, knows that if he were just to raise his head and let his brothers and sisters know where he is, they would come to him – he's not the only one that yearns for the comfort of home and family, and his oyaji had been training him to take over as the next captain for a long time now. But in the time since their oyaji's death, Marco has realized something about himself: he's not fit to be a captain. His is a power meant for supporting, for finding a man (or woman) worthy of his respect, and giving his everything for them. Marco loves his family too much to let them drown with him. So he keeps his head down and continues on his own, drifting aimlessly through the waters he once called his home, through waters he never dreamed he'd one day hate.

After more than twenty years in the Whitebeard pirates however, he's gotten too used to having people around, has gotten too used to knowing a sibling is just a shout away. Without his crew at his back, the loneliness is unbearable.

So when he stumbles into Jinbe, he's not too proud to admit he's relieved to have a friendly face around, even if only for a short time.

It's a beautiful day, the sun shining hot on the summer island Marco's been staying at the past week, when Jinbe steps off a sea-giant's head and into the town Marco has been considering making his home (though he knows he'll get tired of being chained down eventually and will return to his pirating ways).

The two have been laughing and drinking together for two hours when Marco asks, "How are the Sun Pirates doing?"

Jinbe shrugs, nonchalant, and puts his drink down. "As good as always, last I checked."

"Last you checked?" asks Marco, raising a brow in question.

"I'm no longer their captain," Jinbe replies, a faint smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"What happened?" asks Marco, interest showing in his lazy eyes.

Jinbe seems to consider him for a moment before he says in a fond tone, "I left them in the care of my trustworthy former first mate. There's a man that has earned my complete respect, and after seeing the trouble he got into in Dressrosa, I figured I ought to hurry to my would-be captain's side before he gets himself killed for real."

Marco lets out an impressed whistle. "I never expected you to serve under another captain after Fisher Tiger. This man must be pretty impressive."

Jinbe's expression becomes confused. "You mean you don't know?" he asks. "Have you not seen yet what happened in Dressrosa?"

Marco blinks in confusion. "Should I have?"

Amused, Jinbe pulls a newspaper clipping out of the folds of his kimono and hands it over to Marco. He waits, expectantly, as Marco reads the article, and is satisfied when the blond's eyes widen in shock.

"Ace's brother," he mumbles to himself. "I knew he was alive, but he's doing such ridiculous things so soon after coming out of hiding?"

Jinbe chuckles.

Marco's eyes land on him.

"And you're going to join his crew?"

Jinbe nods. "I am on my way to the Thousand Sunny right now, in fact. It's docked at an island just a day's sailing away, though I really ought to get going now, in case Luffy-san's patience runs out," he says, smiling in amusement at the thought of his childish captain.

Marco tries not to let his disappointment show; he'd hoped they could spend at least a few days together. He's not looking forward to being alone again.

Perhaps his disappointment shows on his face though, because Jinbe says, "You should come along, if you've not got anywhere you need to be."

"I don't think Strawhat would appreciate that," Marco replies with a snort.

"He wouldn't mind," replies Jinbe, and Marco can hear the concern in his voice, can hear that he doesn't want them to be separated yet either. While Jinbe had never officially joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he was an honorary member of their crew, and is as much a brother to Marco as Haruta or Izo are.

Marco can see his train of thought, and sighs.

"Jinbe, you know I can't-"

But Jinbe cuts him off, shaking his head.

"I'm not asking you to join," he says. "I don't have the right to even make that offer."

"Then what are you saying?" Marco asks.

"I'm saying you should sail with the Strawhats for a while. I'm sure Luffy-san wouldn't mind, and no offense, but you have not been dealing with your grief well, Marco. Please allow me to worry for my brother a little."

Marco scowls, wanting to deny Jinbe's remarks, but knowing he's right.

After a brief internal struggle, he sighs.

"Just for a little while, then."

Jinbe smiles, relief evident on his face, and nods.

Within a few hours, they've stocked up on supplies, and Marco's little skiff is ready to set sail once more, this time with one more passenger than before.

* * *

They set sail in the early afternoon and, after sailing straight through the night, they arrive at the Thousand Sunny in the early hours of the morning.

The crew's musician, a living skeleton, is the one on watch at the time, and as soon as he notices Jinbe, he rushes to get the rope ladder, letting it down with a cheerful, "Yohoho!" and shouting for his crew to wake up.

By the time the rest of the Strawhats come on deck, yawning and grumbling about the early hour, Jinbe and Marco have already come aboard, the latter running a hand through his hair and looking around awkwardly, feeling out of place.

When they notice the fishman, they start perking up, the navigator squealing excitedly and going in for a hug.

But before she can, there's a sudden shriek of, "JINBE!" and a certain rubbery captain shoots onto the deck and right past his navigator, attaching himself to the fishman, who laughs and returns the embrace.

"It's good to see you too, Luffy-san," he says. "We have quite a bit of catching up to do. But first, there's someone where you should meet."

At these words, the excited conversation halts, and curious eyes turn to Marco.

He meets the captain's gaze, and can see the exact moment the younger boy recognizes him.

"Ace's nakama," he breathes in an almost reverent voice, letting go of Jinbe and dropping to the deck.

"Ace's little brother," says Marco, by way of greeting.

They stare at each other in silence for a few moments, before a shy smile stretches across Luffy's face.

"Thank you," he says, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I was really out of it, after…after that. But I remember you and your crew protected me-"

He looks like he wants to say more, but he stops suddenly, his mouth snapping shut, and swallows hard.

Marco nods, not saying anything either, and the deck is quiet for the next few minutes, nobody willing to break the silence.

In the end, Sanji is the one that breaks the silence with a sigh.

"Well, since it looks like none of us will be going back to sleep anymore, I'll go get started on breakfast. We'll have Jinbe's welcome party later tonight."

Jinbe is quick to protest, saying, "You don't have to have-"

But his protests are drowned out by the rest of the crew's cheering at the prospect of a party, and Sanji smirks at him.

"If you feel so bad about it, then come help me out with the food," says the chef, turning and gesturing for their newest crewmember to follow. "I trust you know how to use a knife? None of the other shitheads are any use in the kitchen, and since I'll be cooking for two extra people, I'll need an extra pair of hands."

Jinbe follows without complaint, and the other Strawhats eventually wander off in twos and threes as well, until finally it's just Marco and their captain left on the deck by themselves.

Marco is just beginning to consider whether he should excuse himself, when Ace's brother turns and gestures for him to follow.

"So, how are things going with your crew?" asks the boy as they walk.

Marco shrugs and answers as vaguely as possible as they go below deck, eventually walking into a rather impressive room surrounded on all sides by an aquarium. In the middle of the room is the ship's main mast, and Luffy walks right up to it, opening a little door to what turns out to be a dumbwaiter.

"The kitchen is right above here," Luffy tells Marco. The chef must have guessed they would be coming here, because there are two snacks waiting for them right there, and Marco can't help but be impressed.

"Ace and Thatch would have loved this," he says with a small chuckle as they take seats.

Luffy laughs, agreeing with him, and proceeds to tell Marco about how much Ace loved to swim when they were younger, and how upset he must have been when he realized he couldn't do that anymore after eating his devil fruit.

Marco confirms this, telling Luffy about how the young second division commander had moped around the Moby Dick for a solid week, and before they know it, they're trading stories about him.

Two hours pass by in the blink of an eye, and by the time Usopp comes around to tell them breakfast is ready, both of them have been crying, and Marco knows they must look absolutely horrid, but the sniper doesn't mention it.

Luffy throws an arm around Marco's shoulder as they head up to the dining room, and they're both laughing by the time they reach their destination, and they're almost hysteric, but no one mentions that either.

Later, after all the food has been eaten, Marco stays behind to help with the dishes.

There's an almost comfortable silence between him and the chef as they methodically wash and dry the dishes, and it's only broken once, when the blond says, quite suddenly and without preamble, "Thanks."

Marco doesn't need to say anything, doesn't need to ask what he's thanking him for.

From the moment he'd seen Luffy, he'd known the boy captain hadn't opened up to anyone about the war yet, had allowed his wound to fester and go untreated.

Marco had known, because it had been the same thing he'd done.

He doesn't say that though, doesn't tell the chef that the two hours they spent talking and reminiscing about their lost ones had helped him just as much as it had helped Luffy.

He just nods, accepting the thanks, and continues drying the dishes.

* * *

No one questions Marco's presence on the Thousand Sunny, even as the days stretch into weeks, and then into a month.

He's surprised, at first, by how readily they can accept him into their family, and it isn't hard for him to understand how they had earned Jinbe's respect.

He finds himself settling comfortably into life on the Thousand Sunny, slipping easily into a nook they've carved out for him.

Sometimes, he's reminded just how young the Strawhats are as a crew, and it surprises him.

The Whitebeard pirates were an ancient crew by most standards; they were established and everybody knew their name. As a result, not many dared to challenge them, and though there was always the threat of danger that went hand in hand with their profession, there was this underlying feeling that everything would turn out okay in the end, that they were invincible, and nothing on Earth could hurt them. They had been everywhere, and done everything.

The Strawhats, in comparison, are infants. Only just emerging into the New World, even docking at a new island is an adventure for them, and Marco finds it refreshing. It's at once nostalgic and a novel experience.

As the days go by, it gets harder and harder for him to think of leaving – after losing his father, Marco had thought he would never find anywhere to truly belong again, but now he has, and he isn't eager to give it up.

And yet, despite how much he enjoys being a part of a crew again, Marco can't quite bring himself to commit to the Strawhat pirates completely.

He knows the others have noticed, and it's exactly thirty-two days after he first came aboard the Thousand Sunny when someone finally brings it up.

The musician, Brook, is on watch again, and Marco can't sleep, so he decides to keep him company.

Brook doesn't question him when he walks into the crow's nest, despite the fact it's something like two in the morning.

The night is quiet, and the sky is clear, the stars sparkling like a million tiny diamonds scattered across the heavens.

Marco is searching for something to say, to break the unbearable silence, when Brook does it for him.

"The weather is always beautiful, on nights I'm on watch duty," he says, quite absently, and Marco looks at him.

"Yeah?" he asks, because he doesn't know what else to say.

"Yeah," replies Brook, nodding his perpetually smiling head at Marco. "Miss Navigator ensures it. It's a small thing, but it never fails to warm my heart…not that I have a heart to warm! Yohoho!"

The corner of Marco's mouth twitches up.

"I was stuck in the Florian triangle for fifty years," Brook informs him then, and Marco suddenly understands. "With nary a soul for company. And when I first became a Strawhat pirate, I was quite like you. I couldn't stand to be alone, couldn't stand the silence."

"I wasn't exactly alone these past two years though," Marco points out.

Brook shakes his head.

"Being surrounded by a thousand different people isn't quite so different from being completely alone if none of them are the right people. And the murmur of a thousand voices isn't quite so different from utter silence if none of them are the right voices."

Marco stares at him, dumbfounded, and empty eye sockets stare right back.

"We're not as big or as strong as the Whitebeard pirates," says Brook, "But we pay attention to the little things. We care. We understand. Is that not enough?"

Marco holds his gaze.

He considers lying, considers brushing off this too heavy conversation.

But instead he finds himself saying, "Pops is the one I swore my loyalty to."

Brook nods, as if he had expected that, and comes to sit next to Marco.

"I was a part of the Rumbar pirates, back when I still had flesh and blood," he says, gazing out into the sea. "My captain, Yorki, was my best friend, and I would have died for him. But then a sickness took him away from us, and shortly after, I lost the rest of my crew as well."

Marco is surprised, he must admit. In a way, Brook's story sounds so much like his own.

"I still dream about them sometimes," Brook continues absently, as if lost in thought. "Sometimes, I think I would give anything to have them back. I used to think that meant I wasn't worthy to be in Luffy's crew, because I couldn't give him everything. But you know what I realized then, Marco-san?"

He looks away from the ocean to meet Marco's gaze.

"I realized that Luffy doesn't _want_ everything from us. All he asks is that we stand by his side in the now. He doesn't care what came before. And just because I call him my captain now, doesn't mean I have forgotten about captain Yorki, or any of my old crew mates."

Marco feels his heart squeeze, and he thinks he might just choke on his emotions right then.

"I don't know about Whitebeard-san," continues Brook, "But I like to think captain Yorki would be happy for me. I don't think he would have liked me to be alone for the rest of my life."

* * *

It's Marco's thirty-third day on the Thousand Sunny, and they've just had breakfast and everyone's still seated around the dining table, talking and laughing.

Marco turns to Luffy, expression serious, and he vaguely notices the others stop talking to look at them, seeming to sense something important about to happen.

"Luffy-san," he says, and the young captain turns to smile up at him.

"Hm?" he asks.

"I would be honoured if you would allow me to join your crew."

He says it before he can think twice about his words, and he hears a few excited gasps from the rest of the Strawhats, and he just knows Jinbe is smiling widely at him, expression somewhat smug.

Marco just keeps his attention on his would-be captain as the boy's expression morphs into confusion.

He tilts his head to the side, eyes narrowed.

"Aren't you already in my crew though?" he asks, and Marco has to wonder if he's heard correctly.

But then someone starts laughing, and it then another, and before he knows it, they're all laughing for no reason at all.

And in that moment, Marco hopes that his oyaji is happy for him.

* * *

 _ **Fin**_

* * *

SkyGem: So this fic was actually somewhat inspired by the lovely gestaltwithluck's "A Song For the Heartsore and War-Weary," which you all should totally totally check out if you haven't already! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, and let me know if y'all would be interested in seeing more of this verse, yeah? If enough people like it, I'm thinking of continuing this series and showing how various Whitebeard pirates join up with the Strawhats, and what they think of their new little captain, who is so very different from their oyaji. Anyways, that's it for now! I'll see you guys next time, and if you haven't already, I'd appreciate it if you'd check out my other One Piece fics!


	2. Not an Okama

SkyGem: Wow. I am absolutely floored. I must admit, I didn't expect this fic to be so popular. You guys are absolutely amazingly lovely people! So as a thank you, here's chapter 2! It didn't exactly come out how I wanted it to, but I hope it's still good. Enjoy!

* * *

Izo ends up being the second Whitebeard pirate to be adopted into the Strawhats.

In fact, he joins them so soon after Marco does, that when the outside world finds out about it, they assume the two joined as a pair.

Izo doesn't mind that at all.

Because back before everything went to hell, before he lost everything important to him in one fell swoop, Marco and Thatch and Ace were something like Izo's best friends.

After the war, Izo and his siblings scattered, falling off the face of the pirating world for months. Never ones to stay out of trouble, many of them soon joined new crews temporarily, or some divisions even created their own crews. But time passed and as it became obvious that Marco, the only one with any hope of bringing their splintered crew back together, wasn't planning to come back, these arrangements became less temporary.

Izo knows that none of his siblings hold any resentment towards Marco for not coming back for them; they all know that Marco had been the closest to their father, as his oldest son. They had been together since the very beginning, and so if he finds it too painful to take up their father's mantle, that's his choice. But his siblings will all wait for him just in case, even if they know he won't return – because that's what family is for.

Izo, on the other hand, has taken it upon himself to find his only surviving best friend, and talk the self-sacrificing idiot out of whatever stupid thoughts he may be having about not being a good captain.

So far, he hasn't had much luck.

Marco has been so maddeningly good at staying off the radar these past two years that the marines have actually retracted his bounty, assuming he'd died in the war.

So after all the trouble Izo's gone through to locate his wayward eldest brother, he really doesn't expect to find him on the one day he's not actively looking for him.

He's taken the day off to re-stock his ammo supply and make sure his precious katana is still in good shape, and once all the errands are done, he's hoping to possibly get a new kimono.

Izo is walking back to the inn he's staying at, idly wondering if it would be worth going without food for the next little while to get some more makeup, when all those thoughts go flying out the window as he catches sight of a strange little ragtag group walking up the road towards him, garnering stares and whispers from the townspeople. Everyone recognizes the Strawhat Pirates immediately, from how often they've been in the news recently.

They seem to have gained two new members as well, both of whom Izo recognizes in a heartbeat.

Jinbe is walking at the back of the group, having a conversation with their shipwright and looking for all the world like he was born to stand among this unusual little crew. And that would be surprising enough on its own, but Izo's main focus is on his big brother, the target of his search, who is walking at the head of the crew.

He's in the middle of what looks like a fascinating conversation with Nico Robin, judging from how absorbed they are, and neither are paying a lick of attention to Strawhat Luffy, who is hanging off Marco like a monkey.

The young captain is clinging to Marco's back, giggling as he tugs at Marco's unruly blond hair and arranges it in different ways, and his victim doesn't even bat an eye.

No one on the crew seems to notice Izo's staring at first – he's just another face in the crowd after all, and they're all so caught up in each other. But then Strawhat looks away from playing hairdresser, and his eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

Izo's eyes narrow – he never exchanged words with the brat in the midst of all the fighting, and he wouldn't have expected the kid to remember him (he looks like the especially dense kind).

Then the next thing he knows, Strawhat is patting Marco's cheek and tugging at his hair to get his attention, and chattering on about something while pointing in Izo's direction.

Izo could swear he hears his name at one point, but he doesn't have time to dwell on that fact because then Marco turns those lazy eyes on him, expression shocked yet happy, and it feels like a dam has broken.

"Izo?" asks Marco, taking a halting step forward, and Strawhat wisely hops off his back and onto the floor, just moments before Izo crashes into his brother, wrapping both arms around him. He's sobbing now, and he can't find it in himself to care that his mascara's running, because Marco's here, and he's safe, and Izo's not alone anymore.

It takes him a while to get his tears back under control, but when he does, there are mascara tracks on his face, and on the shoulder of Marco's shirt, not that he seems to mind.

"Are you alright?" he asks when Izo finally pulls away, his expression worried.

Izo nods.

They're still standing in the middle of the street, but the Strawhats have closed ranks, surrounding Izo and Marco and Luffy, and glaring at anyone who dares even look their way.

Izo finds it kind of endearing. Never mind the dirty looks they're getting because they're blocking more than half the street.

Strawhat is standing behind Marco, looking around him at Izo with a curious expression.

"You're Izo, right?" he asks.

Izo nods.

"You were there at the war too, right?"

Izo nods again.

Strawhat's smile widens.

"Mango talks about you all the time!" he chirps, and a startled bark of laughter escapes Izo.

"It's Marco," his older brother hisses, smacking Strawhat upside the head, a scowl on his face.

"That's what I said," replies Luffy, scowling.

Marco rolls his eyes, but he doesn't seem very upset, and Izo decides he likes the fond expression in his eyes much more than the grief he had gotten used to seeing there in the few weeks they'd been together after oyaji's death.

And when Strawhat turns to him with stars in his eyes and asks, "Do you want to join my crew?" Izo doesn't hesitate to accept the offer.

Marco stares at him with a startled expression on his face, as do most of the other Strawhats, but the captain himself starts jumping around like an excitable puppy.

"We have a new nakama! We have a new nakama!" he cheers. Hopping over to his first mate, he tugs at the pirate hunter's sleeve, saying, "Look Zoro! He's just like Bon-chan and Iva-chan!"

Zoro just nods in agreement, humoring his captain, and promptly turns him and nudges him towards someone else, in a silent order to leave him the hell alone. Luffy doesn't look perturbed, instead heading right over to his sniper to bug him.

"Bon-chan?" asks Izo in confusion, looking towards Marco.

The blond shrugs.

Jinbe's laughing now though, and when Izo turns to look at him, the fishman replies, "They're friends of Luffy's. Okamas. Ivankov-san was at the war, if you'll remember. The one with the purple hair and the rather large face?"

Eyes widening as he remembers who Jinbe is talking about, Izo whips his head around to look at his young new captain. Walking briskly up to him and putting hands on both his shoulders, Izo makes sure he has his full attention before hissing, "I am _**not**_ an okama."

Luffy looks confused then.

"You're not?" he asks.

Izo shakes his head.

"I am a crossdresser. There is a _difference_!"

"Oh…" says Luffy, looking thoughtful. After a few moments of silence, he asks, "…do you have anything against okamas?"

"Of course not!" replies Izo, brows furrowing. He may not identify himself as one, but even he can respect them for having the strength to be true to themselves.

Luffy nods at his response, seeming relieved.

"Good! Because Bon-chan and Iva-chan are my friends and I don't want anyone on my crew who are mean to them!"

Izo nods; he wouldn't expect anything else. A captain who doesn't support his friends and crewmates does not deserve respect.

Grabbing Izo's hand, Luffy turns and walks in a different direction than they'd been heading in before, saying, "Let's go back to the Sunny! We need to introduce her to our newest nakama! And have another party!"

"Luffy! We had Marco's welcome party just last week!" shouts the navigator. "And Jinbe's was just a month before that! If we keep having this many parties, you're going to drink our treasury dry!"

* * *

Izo soon finds out that the reason the rest of the crew were so startled at his quick acceptance of their captain's offer was because it had apparently taken one month of sailing with them for Marco to finally agree.

Izo can't help but laugh when he hears this, throwing his arms around the phoenix's shoulders and saying, "He always was a stubborn one! Always worrying over things that don't matter. He needs to learn to trust his instincts more!"

"Yeah!" agrees Luffy, from Marco's other side. "See Margo? I told you, you should loosen up a bit!"

"It's _Marco_!"

"Right."

Izo chuckles at the exchange. It's strange, seeing Marco like this. In so many ways, he's just like he's always been, trying so hard to seem nonchalant and not show his affection towards his crewmates, and always trying to be the responsible older brother.

But at the same time, he's so different, more relaxed. And it makes sense. Because in this crew, he's not the first mate, not a division commander. All those responsibilities that had been weighing him down have disappeared.

It's nice, seeing this new side of his brother.

And Izo has Strawhat to thank for that.

Marco had always been a good judge of character, even if he can be a stubborn shithead sometimes, which is part of why Izo had felt okay with accepting Luffy's invitation so easily, despite not knowing him so well.

And it helps that this is honestly the happiest Izo has been in a long, long time.

He has his brother, he has a captain, he has a crew.

And soon enough, he'll be back in the embrace of the sea mother.

And it's in this moment that Izo thinks that maybe, just maybe, things will finally be okay.

* * *

SkyGem: And that's a wrap! So sorry for this relatively short chapter you guys! Izo was actually a lot harder to write than I thought he would be. Which is sad, because I like writing him. There will definitely be a lot more of him in future chapters. There was so much more I wanted to expand on in this chapter, but none of it seemed to fit in anywhere… Also I'd just like to say again that I am completely blown away by all the lovely reviews I got on the first chapter. They really do make my day! I'm already planning on getting out the next chapter relatively soon, but hey, if we can get another 40 reviews for chapter 2, I'll see what I can do about getting number three out tomorrow ;) Anyways, do let me know what you thought, and if you have any requests for who you want to show up next, or anything you want to happen, don't hesitate to let me know! I'll see what I can do! So, that's it for tonight, and I'll see you all soon. I promise next chapter will be more interesting.


	3. Logistics

SkyGem: You, my readers, are absolutely too lovely for words. I hope you enjoy this chapter, yes? No new characters joining in this chapter; instead, we get to explore the new dynamics of the crew a bit. It was interesting, to say the least.

* * *

The morning after Izo's welcome party is an unusually quiet one on the Thousand Sunny. The crew had partied late into the night, drinking and getting to know more about the Sunny's newest passenger, and when it had come time to hit the hay, Luffy had kicked up such a fuss, they'd ended up camping out on the deck. That had been at approximately two in the morning.

So when Izo awakens to see the first rays of sun creeping over the horizon, he isn't surprised in the least to find most of his new crewmates still sprawled out around him in their nest of blankets. The two girls are sleeping to Izo's left, and Luffy is sprawled out on his right, arms and legs flung all over the place, head jutting into Izo's side.

Rolling his eyes in fond exasperation, Izo extracts himself from the pile and looks around. Marco's shock of dishevelled blond hair isn't anywhere in the sleeping pile ,though Izo doesn't have to search long before finding him. Even back on the Moby Dick, Marco had always taken it upon himself to keep watch on nights the crew had a party, lest they be taken by a surprise attack, and sure enough, there he is, sitting on the roof of the crow's nest in his phoenix form.

Izo gives him a wave before heading into the galley, not willing to admit aloud how much that familiar sight comforts him.

The blond chef whose name Izo cannot, for the life of him, remember is also awake and is already at the stove, preparing breakfast.

"You're up early," he says, giving Izo a peculiar look as he takes a seat at the dining table.

Izo ignores it – he hasn't washed off the previous day's makeup yet or styled his hair, so he knows he must be quite the sight.

"Force of habit," he says as has pulls his messy hair into a neat ponytail – it's not his usual style, but it will do until he has a chance to fix it. "Division commanders always had to be up at dawn to go over the plan for the day and distribute the chores and such."

The chef nods in understanding. "So that's why Marco's always the first one up," he says, turning back to the food.

"Nah, Marco's different. He's always had strange sleeping habits," Izo informs him, looking around at the galley. It's smaller than the one on the Moby Dick (the whole ship is), but it's comfortable, more intimate.

The chef chuckles. "I see. So tell me about your food preferences," he says, moving onto a new topic. "Any allergies or other dietary restrictions? What about likes and dislikes."

Izo feels a smile tug at his lips. The Whitebeard pirates had been too large a crew to conceivably cater to everyone's tastes all the time, so it isn't often Izo has a meal made especially for him.

"No allergies," he informs, "Though I do try not to eat too much meat."

This garners a chuckle from the chef. "Complete opposite of our captain, then. It's nearly impossible to get the little shithead to eat anything _but_ meat. Got any requests for breakfast?"

They continue like that for a while, the conversation between them easy. The chef (whose name is Sanji, Izo soon learns) is a little rough around the edges, but friendly enough, though sometimes he does seem a bit confused on how to treat Izo.

By the time the sun finishes its ascent into the sky, the dining table is laden with a veritable assortment of foods, and the other crewmembers start drifting in one by one, no doubt drawn by the scent of food.

The meal is a rowdy one, and over the course of it and the rest of the day, Izo learns a lot about his new family.

He learns that food is to be guarded from Luffy's impossibly long reach.

He learns that the party atmosphere from last night never completely goes away.

He learns that Luffy is a completely different species of captain from Whitebeard – most of the technical aspects of running a ship are handled by the more responsible navigator, though he never skips out on his chores. And while Luffy has last say in everything, he doesn't exercise that right often, preferring to take his crew's opinion into account whenever he can.

All in all, it's very different from being on the Moby Dick, but not in a bad way.

The Thousand Sunny has her own charm.

* * *

It's a miserable rainy day, just over a week after Izo joined the crew, when Nami calls a group meeting to bring up a topic that most of the more intelligent members of the crew have been wondering about for a while now.

Luffy is not one of those people.

So when they're all settled around the dining table in the galley, with a heap of snacks in front of the young captain to keep him from being too obnoxious, he looks at his navigator with wide, curious eyes, and asks, "What's up?"

"There are some very important issues we need to sort out," she says, without preamble. "And I'd prefer we do it sooner rather than later."

"Issues?" asks Luffy, leaning back and folding his legs up so that he can put his feet on the edge of his chair, and rest his milkshake cup on his knees. "What issues? Are we out of meat?"

Nami rolls her eyes, opening her mouth to berate him, but Usopp cuts in instead.

"We're not out of meat, Luffy. But in case you hadn't noticed, the men's quarters are getting a bit crowded," he says.

"Are they?" asks Luffy, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "I didn't notice any differences though?"

"They are!" insists Usopp. "We should be able to fit at least one more double bunk in there for Izo and whoever comes next, but if plan on picking up more former Whitebeard pirates after this, we're going to have a problem."

"But they're all so cool!" whines Luffy. "I want the diamond guy to join us! And they have this swordsman with a super cool moustache, and he wears a top hat, just like Sabo!"

"Luffy, no one's saying you can't-" begins Usopp, trying to soothe him, but he keeps whining.

"And there's this guy named Haruta, and Macro says-"

"It's Marco," the blond corrects tiredly. "And will you just listen to us? No one's saying you can't recruit more crewmembers!"

"Oh," says Luffy, immediately shutting up. "Good."

"How many more do you plan on recruiting though, shitty captain?" asks Sanji from where he's standing near a porthole, smoking.

Luffy looks straight at him, expression dead serious.

"All of them."

Sanji nearly swallows his cigarette in shock.

"That's over a thousand people, you idiot!" he yells, coughing.

"Doooon't care!" replies Luffy, not listening to him. "If they're all as cool as Izo and Meerkat, I want them!"

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN SOUND LIKE MY NAME ANY MORE!" roars Marco.

Luffy ignores him.

"The more the merrier, right?" he says.

"That's not how you felt with the Grand Fleet," says Zoro with a smirk, and Luffy's ensuing disgusted expression causes a round of snickers among the rest of their nakama.

"What's the Grand Fleet?" asks Jinbe, looking confused, and Izo is relieved to see that he's not the only one who has no idea what's going on.

"The Straw Hat Grand Fleet," Brook informs them in a cheerful voice. "A group of seven pirate crews that have declared themselves subordinates of Luffy."

"When did that happen?" asks Jinbe, brows furrowed. "I'm sure I was only separated from you all for a few months."

"After Dressrosa," says Luffy, still looking as if he's about to puke. "They said they wanted to pledge their loyalty to me or something. What the hell would I do with 5600 subordinates anyways?"

Izo nearly chokes when he hears this, thinking he _must_ have heard wrong.

" _How_ many?" demands Marco, sounding just as disbelieving as Izo feels.

"See? That's exactly how I reacted!" yells Nami. "I leave these knuckleheads alone for just a few days, and suddenly, we're the leaders of a fleet! As if the marines don't hate us enough already!"

"It's not like I wanted it to happen!" yells Luffy, throwing his arms in the air. "They're all really cool guys, especially Cabbage and chicken head, but they're way too uptight! And they wanted a parent-child relationship or something. I don't want servants! I want Nakama! That's the difference between the Grand Fleet, and the Whitebeard pirates!"

"Okay, that's super, really. But shouldn't we get back to the topic at hand?" interrupts Franky, cutting off the argument before it can start again. "At this point, it's basically guaranteed we'll need another ship, and I'd really like some numbers so I can get to the drawing board already."

"What?" demands Luffy, turning to look at him. "But I want us all to be on the same ship!" he whines, stomping his feet like a child having a tantrum.

"Captain-san, the only way we'd be able to do that would be to replace Sunny," says Robin, her voice gentle.

Luffy's response is immediate.

"When hell freezes over."

"Then we need to get a new ship!" Franky huffs, rolling his eyes.

Nami pinches the bridge of her nose, eyes closed as she lets out a sigh.

"Alright," she says. "How many Whitebeard pirates are there?" she asks, taking charge.

"Not counting those who died as a result of the war?" asks Marco with a wince, remembering all the brothers he'll never see again. At least he hadn't lost any sisters that day – their pops hadn't allowed any of his daughters to fight in the war, citing the fact that most of them (even the fighters) were doctors or nurses, of which there were already few enough in the pirating world. There would have been far more casualties on their side if they had lost even one of the girls in the fighting. "Approximately 1500."

"Some of the older members have returned to their homes in the Blues, though," says Izo. "To settle down and help raise their children and such. I still keep in touch with some; they seem to be doing well. Minus them, there should be about 1100 former Whitebeard pirates still on the Grand Line, give or take a hundred."

"And then there are two or three divisions that have formed their own crews," adds Marco. "They probably wouldn't want to join the crew, but I guess they'd be open to joining the Grand Fleet."

"So all in all…about 800-900 former Whitebeard pirates who might potentially join the Strawhats," concludes Izo.

Luffy has stars in his eyes at the thought of so many new nakama, so excited he's practically vibrating in his seat.

"Alright," says Franky, looking thoughtful. "They'll probably join up gradually, so once we have enough people to man it, we'll have a battleship built to accommodate 500 people. And once that's at capacity, we can build the second one. Good?"

"Aye!" everyone else agrees.

"A ship that size would be too much for me to build on my own though," Franky warns his captain. "So we'll have to go back to Water 7 for it."

Nami looks at her captain uneasily at this; she knows how much Luffy will dislike the idea of backtracking, especially since they've only just entered the new world.

"That's alright!" he chirps. "One Piece isn't going anywhere, and we need to make sure all our nakama are comfortable! As long as we take a different route to get there this time, we can still have an adventure."

"We should probably get going now, then," Izo says. "I heard a while ago that the second division has reformed the Spade pirates, with Ace's former first mate as the captain. And since I'm sure at least someone must have blabbed to the press by now about us joining the Strawhats, they should be on their way here right now."

* * *

SkyGem: And that's all folks! So in this chapter we got to see a tiny bit about the new Strawhats interacting with the old ones, and of course some very important discussion about the logistical issues in regards to the anticipated influx of new nakama. Liked it? Didn't like it? Anything I could have done better? Leave a review below and let me know what you thought and I'll see you all again next chapter!


	4. Spades

Elijah Kristovv would never admit it to his crewmates, but he is tired.

So, so tired.

It's been two years now since the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates had re-formed as the Spade pirates, and at first, it had been almost exciting. They'd had a reputation ready-made for them, because of Ace's status as a super rookie from before they'd all joined the Whitebeard Pirates, and it had instantly put them on the radar, so to speak.

The press had been speculating about them for weeks, reporting on their every move, and Elijah and his crew had done their best to live up to the hype.

Most other crews tend to steer clear of them, as if even in death, their father's name still holds sway over the seas. Pirates are a rather superstitious bunch, so Elijah wouldn't be surprised if some think that Whitebeard's spirit still watches over his former crew.

Elijah himself likes to think so.

And for those that don't fear the late Edward Newgate's wrath, Elijah and his crew are more than powerful enough to look after themselves, thank you very much.

But as time wears on, Elijah finds himself being slowly crushed by all the expectations piled upon his shoulders. He knows he's a pretty decent captain in his own right, but because of the name they of his crew, it seems the entire world expects him to be a captain like Ace. Especially his own crewmates.

But Ace had been a one in a billion kind of man, and Elijah knows he himself isn't. He isn't meant to change the world or make his name known.

He does his best anyways though, because he has people relying on him to lead them now, and he would rather die than intentionally let them down.

And in the end, his efforts in holding his crew together finally pays off when the news he hadn't known he'd been waiting for finally arrives in the form of a newspaper smacking him awake in the early hours of a rather dreary morning.

"The fuck-?" he splutters, knocking the offending object to the ground and sitting bolt upright in his best. He looks around groggily for a few moments, disoriented, before his eyes land on his first mate, Davydd, who's standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, and an unreadable expression on his face.

"The fuck was that for?" Elijah demands, and the man's lips twitch up slightly.

"The paper is here," he says simply, inclining his head towards the newspaper on the floor.

"So what?" asks Elijah, irritated. "I've been up all night on watch, Davydd. I'm sure the paper can wait a few hours, until I'm not dead anymore."

"Well sure it can," replies Davydd, shrugging, "I just thought you'd want to know that Marco's reappeared. He and Izo are with Straw Hat."

Elijah blinks.

"Come again?" he asks, so surprised he doesn't even move to pick up the paper on the floor next to his bed.

Davydd shrugs. "That's what they're saying. Not sure how credible it is though."

Elijah snatches the newspaper off the ground.

 _ **Marco the Phoenix Finds a New Perch…On the Thousand Sunny?**_

 _After two years spent flying under the radar, Marco the Phoenix has finally risen from the ashes._

 _The former first mate of the infamous Whitebeard pirates had been MIA since the Summit War, which had taken the lives of his captain, and former crewmate Fire Fist Ace, among several others._

 _The Marines, who had retracted his bounty, have since reinstated it after several witnesses reported seeing the Phoenix in the company of none other than Straw Hat Luffy and his crew last Tuesday._

 _And he wasn't the only one._

 _Straw Hat, reportedly the adopted younger brother of Portgas D. Ace, has apparently also managed to recruit former 16_ _th_ _Division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Flintlock Pistols Izo, as well as former Shichibukai and captain of the Sun Pirates, Knight of the Sea Jinbe._

 _Many are speculating…_

Elijah almost can't believe his eyes as he breezes through the article, a million questions running through his mind.

The foremost emotion is overwhelming relief that his oldest brother is still safe – though Elijah had known Marco had safely escaped Marineford after the war, he'd started to get worried as more and more time passed without any word from him.

Elijah skims over the rest of the article, not particularly interested in all the speculation about Marco's motivations for joining such a young crew, but he doesn't see anything else useful.

When Elijah looks back up, Davydd is still standing in the doorway, expression expectant.

"Do you have any idea where they're headed?" Elijah asks him, and his face breaks into a wide smile.

"I don't," he replies. "But I can find out if you want."

Elijah nods. "Do so."

His first mate nods, but doesn't otherwise move.

"Captain," he says. "Are we…?"

He leaves the question hanging.

Elijah nods.

"As soon as we know their location, we're setting sail for the Thousand Sunny."

* * *

To say that Luffy is disappointed when they reach the New World's equivalent of the Sabaody Archipelago would be a massive understatement.

Consisting of only eight Yarukiman Mangrove trees huddled together a mile or so from the Red Line, the grove is a far cry from the massive tourist attraction of Sabaody.

Instead of the numerous hotels and gift shops and amusement park that were found in Sabaody, this grove only houses the tiny Floresta Village, and a single coating business that looks like it hasn't had any customers in decades.

Seeing his captain's devastated expression, Jinbe chuckles and pats him on the back.

"While there is no shortage of pirate crews wanting to enter the New World, there aren't many that want to go _back_ to Paradise through Fishman Island. You yourselves saw how dangerous the trip is. Those who find the New World is too much for them usually prefer to take their chances in the Calm Belt and then retire to one of the four Blues. Or they go back to Reverse Mountain. The only crews I know of that visit Floresta with any frequency are the Red Hair pirates, and the Whitebeards."

"But I wanted to go to an amusement park!" whines Luffy, crossing his arms and stomping his feet hard enough to have left a dent in most other ships. Marco rolls his eyes, thankful that the Sunny is made from Adam wood.

"We'll go to the amusement park in Sabaody, okay? Luckily the guy who does the coating here is nearly as good as Rayleigh, so it shouldn't take too long before we're on our way."

Luffy immediately perks up at the suggestion.

"Really? That's awesome! Thanks Velcro!" says the little rubbery captain, bouncing off towards the galley to bother Sanji for some snacks.

"Is it just me, or are his guesses about my name actually getting _worse_ instead of better?" asks Marco, closing his eyes and breathing out through his nose. "That one didn't even start with 'M'."

Jinbe chuckles in reply.

"You know he's only doing it to get a rise out of you," says the fishman.

"Really?" asks Marco. "Could have had me fooled."

"I guess he sees it as a game," replies Jinbe with a shrug. "To see how many new names he can find for you, and to see how much he can annoy you. You know he calls you by your proper name when you're not around."

"He does?" asks Marco, seeming surprised.

"Of course," replies Jinbe. "You're nakama, you honestly think he wouldn't know your name by now?"

Marco blinks a few times, seeming honestly surprised.

"Just think of it as Luffy's way of showing affection," Jinbe tells him with a knowing smile. "He may seem like somewhat of an idiot-"

Marco snorts at the word "somewhat."

"-but he's very intuitive when it comes to people. Haven't you always had a soft spot for obnoxious little brothers? He knows he can act spoiled around you, so he does."

"Right. Because I totally have a soft spot for that rubber-brain," replies Marco, one eyebrow raised, his face the very picture of skepticism.

"Of course you do."

* * *

Despite Luffy's initial disappointment about Floresta, the charismatic young captain somehow worms his way into the hearts of the villagers in record time, and by the end of their first day there, the crew already has invitations to dinner at a different villager's home for all five days they will be docked in the small village.

The village is a peaceful place, effectively isolated from the rest of the world, and with no bounty hunters or other pirates to fight to occupy his time, Luffy spends his mornings playing hopscotch or hide-and-seek with the village kids and Chopper.

His afternoons are spent on the Sunny, spending "quality time" with his crewmates (read: pestering them with inane chatter).

On their third afternoon at Floresta, Izo is actually able to convince Luffy to sit still long enough to have his nails painted, on the condition that the colour is the exact same red as his shirt.

Nami, excited at the impressive array of colours Izo has, is quick to join the two where they're sitting on the deck, interrogating Izo about what brands of makeup he uses, and how he applies his eyeliner so perfectly. Luffy has long since tuned them out, and is blowing so hard on his nails to get the nail polish to dry that he looks to be in danger of passing out. The rest of the crew is scattered about the deck, doing their own things.

Just then, however, the peaceful atmosphere is interrupted by a shout from Zoro, in the lookout tower.

"Captain!" he calls, hanging out the window of the crow's nest with a grin stretched across his face.

Luffy looks up at him with a quizzical expression, and Zoro points out to sea.

"Spade pirates!" he calls, grin growing impossibly wider, and within seconds, the deck is a flurry of activity as everyone rushes to see.

Luffy is the first one at the railing, and as soon as he sees the familiar, beloved jolly roger, he feels something in his chest squeeze painfully tight.

Grabbing onto the railing of the Sunny, Luffy backs up, ignoring his crew's objections and launches himself into the air with a shout of, "Gomu gomu no rocket!"

* * *

They're about an hour's sailing away from the Thousand Sunny when Elijah becomes certain they've been spotted.

The captain has been standing at the railing since his own lookout had informed him that the Straw Hats' flagship, the Thousand Sunny, was in view, and now ten minutes later, he watches as a certain something…or rather some _one_ is launched right towards them.

"EEELLLIIIIJJJJAAAAAHHH!"

* * *

SkyGem: That's a wrap for this chapter! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, yes? To those who are wondering, yes, Elijah and Davydd are _technically_ OCs, since we don't actually have any names for anyone in the WBP other than the division commanders. But the Spade pirates are such an important part of the fic that I couldn't just leave them out. And the reason I say they're "technically" OCs is that they're based on unnamed characters that we have seen in the series. Elijah is meant to be the guy with the white cowboy hat and blue shirt in in the Spade pirates, whereas Davydd is the gentleman with the top hat. I hope you're ready for a bit more angst and a lot of fluff in the next chapter :D See you then!


	5. Of Promises Broken

SkyGem: Hey guys! So sorry this chapter took so long to upload! It was meant to be out forever ago, but like, writer's block is a bitch and college life is a bitch and work is a bitch and just…I want to retreat from society and become a hermit. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"EEELLLIIIIJJJJAAAAAHHH!"

Before either crew can react to the war cry, Elijah is stumbling back, crumbling under the weight of the lanky nineteen-year-old in his arms. He can hear the deck creaking from the momentum of Luffy's landing, and his bones feel like they're about to shatter any moment.

But he can't really bring himself to care because he has an armful of Luffy, who's looking up at him with stars in his eyes and chattering a mile a minute about how glad he is to see him.

The rest of the Spade pirates have started gathering around now, watching the two of them curiously. Luffy, seeming bent on chattering Elijah's ear off, doesn't notice any of them until Davydd walks right up and picks the young monkey out of his captain's arms.

Luffy freezes for a split second, surprised at being manhandled in such a way by someone outside of his family or his crew, before whipping his head around to look at the person who has him hanging by the scruff of his shirt.

He's a tall fellow, nearly approaching Brook's height, and is dressed in much the same way in a neat black suit and waistcoat, and a top hat perched on his head.

He's smiling brightly, and Luffy's belligerent expression falls away immediately upon seeing him.

"Davydd!" he cries, stretching his arms and legs out to wrap them around the older pirate and pulling him close for a hug.

"IT'SSOGOODTOSEEYOUICAN'TBELIEVEIT'SBEENSOLONGI'VEMISSEDYOUSOMUCHWHATTOOKYOUSOLONGTOGETHEREDIDYOUBRINGMEATWAITTHAT'SNOTIMPORTANTRIGHTNOWCANYOUGUYSPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEJOINMYPIRATECREWITWOULDBESOCOOLANDMARCOANDIZOAREALSOAPARTOFITNOWANDTHEY'REALSOREALLYLOOKINGFORWARDTOSEEINGYOUIT'SOKAYIFYOUDON'TWANTTOBUTIWOULDBESO-"

Amused, Davydd lets him ramble like that for a moment, effortlessly keeping up with Luffy's rapid-fire stream of consciousness, before cutting him off.

"Breathe, Luffy," he orders, and the young captain's mouth immediately snaps shut.

After a few moments of just smiling at the man he's clinging to like a koala, Luffy starts looking around in confusion.

"Where's Dogra?" he asks.

And there's a moment of utter silence as the rest of the Spades look around in confusion, and Davydd has to choke back his laughter.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT'S NOT MY NAME?" comes an indignant shout from close by, and Luffy looks down to see a frustrated pirate standing next to them. He's short, barely coming up to Davydd's waist, and has a turban wrapped around his head.

His features are pulled into a scowl, and his arms are crossed.

"DOGRA!" Luffy cries happily, letting go of Davydd so he can drop to the floor and pick the man up in a bone-crushing hug.

"MY. NAME. IS. SIRACHI!" he yells, punctuating each of his words with a kick to Luffy's shins.

His words are nearly drowned out by Elijah's roaring laughter, and Davydd is only able to hold back for a few seconds before he joins his captain.

"I missed you too!" exclaims Luffy, completely mishearing the angry man.

The rest of the former Whitebeards Second Division watch the spectacle with equal parts confusion and amusement.

"You guys have met him before?" one of them asks of no one in particular.

"We all grew up in the East Blue," replies one shirtless swordsman with long curly hair and a cape tied around his shoulders. "While we were still gathering enough crewmates to enter the Grand Line, we visited Dawn Island once or twice to deal with Ace's brother complex."

This causes a round of snickers among the crew. Everyone knows that Ace used to boast about his baby brother until he was blue in the face if no one stopped him in time.

A few of them are just beginning to understand where that utter adoration comes from.

* * *

Zoro isn't the least bit surprised when the Spade pirates' ship, the Breeze's Blessings, docks about an hour later, and Luffy has somehow already managed to woo every last pirate on board.

They're all looking at him as if he's sunshine personified…not that Zoro or any of the other straw hats aren't guilty of doing so as well at least once in the past.

Marco, who had followed after Luffy in his phoenix form to make sure he didn't make himself too much of a nuisance, joins Zoro in the crow's nest as the rest of their crewmates head onto the Breeze's Blessing to make introductions and get to know each other.

"We'll be staying here an extra week while the Breeze's Blessings is coated," Marco says as soon as he's human again.

Zoro gives a noncommittal grunt in reply, continuing his sit-ups and not bothering to comment when Marco walks over to step on his feet, to anchor them in place.

"Is that alright?" asks Marco.

Zoro stops mid-way through a sit-up, and peers up at Marco with confusion colouring his eyes.

"Why wouldn't it be alright?" he asks, lowering his arms to prop himself up, giving himself a moment to rest.

Marco raises an eyebrow, asking , "You're not upset we made the decision without you?"

"Should I be?" asks Zoro, his attention wandering, as if already bored with this conversation.

"You're the first mate," replies Marco, wondering if the swordsman really is as unbothered as he seems.

"And Luffy would have made the exact same decision whether I'd been there or not," says Zoro with a shrug. "Anyways, they're our nakama now. It's not like we could have left them behind."

Marco steps back, not sure what to say, and Zoro takes that chance to cross his legs, his exercise apparently done for the day.

"I don't know what First Mate meant in the Whitebeard pirates," says Zoro, levelling Marco with a mildly amused gaze, "Maybe it meant having a say in every little decision your captain made, or telling your crewmates what to do. But for me, being First Mate means standing by my captain's side even if the whole world is against him, and it means protecting my crewmates when he isn't able to do it himself. As long as you don't try to take that away from me, I don't care about you having a say in making the big decisions around here. I'm not good at all that stuff, so the witch does most of it anyways."

With that, Zoro gets to his feet and leaves, effectively ending the conversation.

Watching him go, Marco can't help but feel amazed.

He'd been worried for a while now about meeting up with his brothers and sisters – he'd been excited, of course, but he'd also known they would fall into familiar patterns. Marco knows that, starved for familiarity, they will look to _him_ for leadership, as they've become accustomed to in the past decades. And it's a relief knowing that Zoro will not be offended when that time comes.

And really, Marco supposes he should have known Zoro wouldn't care.

Because the Straw Hat pirates have no need for traditional crew roles or hierarchy. They each know where their strengths lie, and they feel no shame for it.

* * *

Elijah isn't really sure how or when it happened, but sometime after the Breeze's Blessings docked next to the Thousand Sunny, a party had started.

The chefs disappear from sight almost immediately, and when he stumbles into the kitchen a bit later to break out some more sake, he sees why.

Black Leg Sanji has already managed to assume command over all the other chefs, and is flitting around the kitchen, correcting people, berating or complimenting them where applicable as they work to prepare a veritable feast.

When Sanji notices Elijah standing in the doorway, he frowns, muttering about outsiders getting in the way.

Without Elijah even having to ask for it, he soon finds himself rolling an unopened barrel out sake out onto the deck.

All of the cooking is happening in the Breeze's Blessings' kitchen, since it's bigger than the Thousand Sunny's, but that certainly doesn't mean all the partying is happening there.

Both ships are alive with the chatter of new nakama getting to know each other, and almost as soon as Elijah rolls the sake barrel onto deck, it's snatched from him and thrown overboard to someone on the Thousand Sunny, where Zoro and Nami have started a monumental drinking contest. There's a ring of unconscious Spades pirates around them, so they're obviously in the later stages of the contest, and if Elijah isn't mistaken, there seems to be a betting pool on which of them is going to win.

Luffy is among the people watching, a carefree D-shaped grin on his face, but as soon as he catches sight of Elijah, he hops off his special seat on Sunny's figurehead and hops over.

"Elijah!" he greets cheerfully. "You were just in the kitchen, right? Is Sanji done making the food? I want meat! MEAT!"

"I don't know," replies Elijah, amused. "It looked like they were nearly done, but I'm not entirely sure. Why don't you go ask them yourself?"

"I'm not allowed," replies Luffy, crossing his arms with a pout. "Sanji kicked me out when I went to ask him about it earlier, and he said that if I came back again, he wouldn't make any meat for me EVER AGAIN."

Choosing not to mention that the threat was probably just a bluff, Elijah leads Luffy to the side, so that they're no longer blocking the doorway.

"Just try not to think about it," he advises his young captain as he leans against the railing looking out to sea. "And before you'll know it, the food will be ready."

Crossing his arms, Luffy looks away with a pout, leaning with his back to the railing so that he's looking over the ship.

He tips is head back, and doesn't say anything.

Several minutes pass like that in silence, and finally Elijah turns to look at Luffy, surprised that he hasn't already started chattering in his usual nonsensical way.

"Luffy?" he asks when he sees the boy staring at something, lost in thought.

Following his gaze, Elijah feels his good mood immediately evaporate when he sees that Luffy is staring at the Spade pirates' jolly roger, which they haven't yet had a chance to change to the Straw Hatted version.

Even the densest moron would be able to recognize the longing in his eyes as he traces the lines with his gaze, from the smiley faces to the flaming hat. Finally, he lowers his eyes, pulling the brim of his straw hat down to hide his face.

Elijah watches him, not knowing what to say.

In the end, the only words he can get past the lump in his throat are, "I'm sorry."

The words taste sour in his mouth, like acid, and are nowhere near strong enough to convey how deeply he feels he's failed the boy standing next to him, the boy who is still able to smile so brightly at Elijah, despite how much he's lost.

"What?" asks Luffy, looking up with a startled expression. "Sorry for what?"

Elijah swallows hard.

"It's my fault," he says. "He…Teach was in the second division. He was one of ours. And we- _ **I**_ should have known...I should have _seen_ what he really was. It's my fault Ace-"

"It's not," interrupts Luffy before Elijah can even finish his sentence, his voice steely.

"It _is_ ," insists Elijah, wringing his hands. "I was _there_. I slept in the under the same roof as him for _years_. I should have **seen** it coming!``

"Yeah?" asks Luffy, whirling around with a fierce expression on his face, his voice rising to a shout. "And what about _**ME**_? I was there with him in Impel Down! I could have stopped EVERYTHING! But I was too weak!"

"You _weren't_!" insists Elijah, angry that Luffy would even suggest such a thing.

" _ **I WAS!**_ " yells Luffy. "If it had been _**ANYONE**_ else, they would have been able to save him! Izo, Marco, Whitebeard-ossan! They all would have been able to get to him before he was taken to the execution site. But I was too weak. And then…and then I was given another chance. And I failed him _**AGAIN!**_ Ace died because I was too weak and…and…"

He trails off, as if he's run out of words to say, and his hands are balled into fists and shaking, and he looks angrier than Elijah ever thought he could possibly look, and there are tears flooding his eyes.

And Elijah can't help but think that if Ace knew Elijah had made his baby brother cry, he'd never forgive him.

Luffy looks so angry and broken in that moment, so different from his usual self, and for some reason, it reminds Elijah of that day, more than five years ago…

* * *

 _The sun beats hotly on their heads._

 _The sweet breeze caresses their hair._

 _The gentle tides of East Blue coax their ship farther and farther from land._

 _And Elijah shouts to the fifteen-year-old watching them forlornly from shore, "Don't you worry, Luffy! I'll take care of him!"_

* * *

"I promised you I'd keep him safe…" he whispers, quietly, and it seems pitifully weak in the face of Luffy's anger.

Luffy deflates.

"Yeah," he whispers. "And Ace promised me he'd never die."

* * *

SkyGem:….I'll just leave that there and run away now before you all can kill me. Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought okay bye!

P.S. Who else here is dying to see the Vinsmoke brothers O.o


	6. Of Promises Kept

In the deafening silence that follows Luffy's words, Elijah notices that the partying has ground to a halt around them.

Zoro and Nami have stopped drinking, Usopp's avid audience has stopped listening to his tall tales, and even Marco has poked his head out of the crow's nest, expression worried.

Luffy doesn't look at any of them, his gaze still glued to the ground, tears overflowing onto his cheeks. Elijah wants to comfort him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but he's so out of his depth, and he has no idea what to say to make things better.

He reaches out, to do what, he doesn't know, but before he can find out a pair of arms sprouts from Luffy's shoulders and Elijah startles backwards.

The two hands cup Luffy's cheeks, tilting his face upwards and wiping his tears away with gentle fingers.

Luffy doesn't look at all surprised about the extra appendages, but when they disappear in a flurry of flower petals, his lips quirk into a small smile.

"Sometimes people make promises they can't keep," says a gentle voice from behind them, and Elijah turns to see Nico Robin approaching, her expression gentle.

The meagre smile drops from Luffy's face at her words, but she continues before he can say anything.

"Sometimes, they need a little help from us, to keep from breaking those promises," she tells him, combing her fingers through Luffy's hair.

"They need our help?" asks Luffy, looking up at her in confusion, and she smiles back down at him, her eyes closing.

"That's right," she says, continuing to card her fingers through her captain's hair as he gradually relaxes into her touch. "After all, Ace-san and Whitebeard-san can't truly die as long as we remember them. Isn't that right, captain-san?"

Luffy seems to consider her words, as does the rest of the crew, and after a moment, he nods solemnly. "That's right."

Elijah stares, amazed at how easily she had been able to cheer her captain up, and wonders who it was that had looked at her once upon a time, and thought to call her a devil child.

People are still staring at the two of them, still a bit worried and unsure if it is alright to return to partying.

But then Luffy turns his big bright smile upon them, and it's nearly impossible not to smile back.

The noise gradually picks back up around them, and instead of returning to who knows what she had been doing before, Robin hooks her arm through her captain's and leads him into the fray.

Elijah hangs back at first, not wanting to interrupt the two and still very much caught up in his memories, but before he can get too down in the dumps, Luffy turns his head 180 degrees to look back at him.

Seeing that Elijah hadn't followed them, his lips pull into a small frown before he reaches out and latches onto Elijah's hand, pulling him over with a laugh.

Elijah lets himself be dragged over, and feels a heavy burden lifted off his shoulders as it really hits him that he finally, finally has a captain again.

* * *

The next week passes in the blink of an eye as the new Straw Hats integrate slowly into their new crew, and before Jinbe even realizes it, it's the night before they're to set off for Fishman Island.

Truth be told, when he had first set out to reunite with Luffy and the others, he had expected not to return home for quite a long time.

However, in many ways he is quite happy with how events have unfolded – King Neptune's words about wanting to fly the Straw Hats' jolly roger, and the more Jinbe mulls them over, the more he finds himself wanting it as well.

"Jinbe!"

Startling out of his thoughts at the sound of his name, Jinbe turns to see Chopper running up to him with a wide grin on his face.

"Zoro and the others are done, so it's our turn in the bath!" the young doctor chirps excitedly, taking Jinbe's hand and tugging him towards the bathroom.

Jinbe doesn't have the heart to tell him that, as a fishman, he doesn't need to bathe as often and in the same way as humans. Baths, he has learned in his time with the Straw Hat crew, are meant to be a time of bonding and relaxation.

And as soon as he and Chopper arrive at the bathroom with their things, he realizes why he had been put in with this particular group.

Luffy and Marco's clothes have already been strewn across the floor, and Jinbe stoops to pick them up with an exasperated sigh, throwing them into the laundry hamper next to the mirror before disrobing himself.

By the time he and Chopper enter finally enter the bathhouse, Marco is using the showerhead to rinse the shampoo out of Luffy's hair, and Jinbe is relieved they had the good sense to wait until he arrived before entering the bathtub.

Even the Sunny's spacious bathroom seems cramped with the four of them squeezed in there, but it can't be helped. After a prior incident that no one is willing to tell Jinbe about in detail, it had become a steadfast rule in the Straw Hat pirates that devil fruit users must always bathe with at least one non-devil fruit user present to help them in case of emergency.

"Hey Jinbe!" greets Luffy, voice almost lethargic.

Marco looks up, nodding at them in greeting, before turning off the showerhead, and slicking back his own damp, blonde hair.

"Ready to get in the tub, captain?" he asks, and Jinbe can't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"Sure thing, Marco!" the young captain replies cheerily, and Jinbe comes to the amusing realization that they must have come to some kind of agreement about the whole name thing.

Abandoning the little wooden stool, Luffy hops over to the tub to pull back the cover, looking slightly disappointed when he realizes the water isn't hot anymore.

"Maaarrrrcccooooo!" whines the teenager, turning wide, pleading eyes on his crewmate.

"How many times do I have to tell you my flames _don't have any heat_?" bites out Marco, punctuation the last four words with pokes to Luffy's forehead. "They're just for healing my wounds! Now stop being such a baby and get in the water, _captain_! It's still pretty warm!"

Luffy does as told, grumbling all the while, and Jinbe turns away from the scene with an amused smile, gratefully accepting human Chopper's offer to wash his back.

Sullenly ignoring Marco's warnings to keep his arms moving so the water doesn't become stagnant and sap all their strength, Luffy turns and hooks his chin over the side of the tub, watching as Chopper helps Jinbe wash his back and shampoo his thick, curly hair.

And then, as the fishman begins helping Chopper brush out all his loose fur and gently shampoo the rest of it, a sudden thought strikes Luffy.

"Hey, Marco?" he says, turning to look at the blond and noticing him absently kicking his legs to stir up the bathwater.

"Yes, captain?" Marco asks, turning those lazy eyes on him.

"Do mythical zoan users have to groom themselves the way other zoan users do?" Luffy asks, resting his arms on the edge of the tub, and then laying his cheek on top of them.

Marco shrugs, not looking too surprised at the mildly invasive question.

"Why wouldn't we?"

Luffy's eyes light up at the answer, and he immediately spins to look at the phoenix, splashing water over the side of the tub.

"CAN I HELP?" he asks, excited.

"No."

The reply is curt.

"But whyyyyyyyyyyyy?" whines Luffy, smacking the water in displeasure and spraying it all in his crewmate's face. "I'm good at grooming, Parvo! I promise!"

"MY NAME IS MARCO, IDIOT CAPTAIN!" Marco yells, smacking Luffy upside the head. "And I don't need you to help me preen! I do well enough on my own!"

"But Chopper always lets me help _him_!" whines Luffy, pointing in Chopper and Jinbe's direction, both of whom are watching the scene with amusement now.

"Yeah, well, I'm not Chopper," replies Marco huffily. "And I would prefer _**NOT**_ to have any of my feathers broken tonight. It messes with my flying."

"I promise I won't break any of them though!" Luffy insists, tugging on his arm. "PLEASE, Marco? Please, please, please? Don't be so stingy!"

"Just let him try it once, Marco," Jinbe interrupts, not looking up from where he's flushing the shampoo out of Chopper's fur. "It'll make him happy, and if it gets too painful, you can just get him to stop."

Marco frowns, opening his mouth to protest, but Chopper speaks first.

"Luffy is really good at grooming!" the young reindeer says, smiling up at Marco with wide, adorable eyes. "He's really gentle and he makes sure not to rub my fur the wrong way and it feels really nice and you should let him do it, Marco!"

Looking away and feeling slightly resentful at having been ganged up on, Marco groans and caves to the two sets of puppy eyes, and Jinbe's disapproving stare.

"Fine!" he snaps, standing abruptly to get out, and Luffy follows him with a whoop as Jinbe and Chopper come over to take their turn to soak in the tub.

Walking to stand in the middle of the room, Marco unceremoniously shifts into his phoenix form, making sure to keep his wings folded lest he knock anything over.

Eyes sparkling with excitement, Luffy approaches his friend, taking extra care not to step on his especially long tail feathers or wing feathers on the way.

Walking around him to reach for the soap, Luffy is stopped by an angry trill, and a smack from a large, blue wing.

Startled, the young captain turns to look at Marco in confusion.

"What? What did I do wrong?" he asks, completely baffled, and Jinbe chuckles.

"He doesn't use soap for his preening," the fishman explains. "He has these sweat glands all over his body that secrete a special oil he's supposed to spread across his feathers, to clean them and help make them waterproof so he can fly better."

"Ooohhh," replies Luffy, watching the phoenix curiously as he rolls his eyes in exasperation.

Turning away from the soap, Luffy approaches Marco, reaching out without any hesitation whatsoever to run an exploratory hand through his feathers.

For the most part, Marco stays still, watching his captain with a wary eye.

After a few moments, Luffy's eyes light up in understanding, and his exploratory fingers become more purposeful.

Pinching his thumb and forefinger lightly at the base of one of Marco's feathers, he slowly drags them up the length of the feather, marvelling when his fingers come away slightly greasy.

Marco ruffles his feathers just as Luffy's about to do it again, sitting up straighter, and the young captain looks up, wondering if he's upset his crewmate.

Instead, he gets a happy trill from the phoenix, and a head-butt.

Taking this as a good sign, Luffy smiles and continues what he'd been doing.

Jinbe and Chopper continue to watch them quietly.

After a few moments of watching Luffy work, Marco stretches out one of his wings and begins running his beak through his feathers.

The two work in relative silence for a while, until Luffy gets into a good rhythm, and begins chattering again, filling the air with a story about a _sky island_ of all places.

Marco and Jinbe listen quietly.

Chopper makes excited squeaks every now and then, and occasionally adds in his own two cents.

Marco isn't sure how much of the story he believes.

* * *

Luffy's group ends up staying in the bath long after the water should have cooled down, and in the end, Izo is the one sent up to find out what exactly they're up to, and to make sure nothing catastrophic has happened.

Izo's not too worried.

Luffy maybe a total blockhead who could find trouble in his own hammock, but with both Jinbe and Marco there to look after him, he couldn't have gotten up to anything too bad.

Or so he tells himself right up until he reaches the top of the ladder leading to the bathhouse, and hears a loud, angry trill from Marco's phoenix form.

Izo feels his heart speed up, adrenaline immediately filling his bloodstream.

Angry phoenix Marco is never a good sign.

But before Izo can go busting in there to see who DARED to try and attack _his_ home and _his_ crew, he's stopped by Luffy's distinctive, carefree laugh, muffled only slightly by the door between them.

"Come on, Marco, don't be like that! I said I was sorry!"

Izo's brows furrow in confusion, and he stops with his hand on the doorknob.

Marco trills angrily again in reply.

"Hey, it's not like I was _trying_ to break your feather!"

Another angry trill.

"It's Jinbe's fault too! He was the one that was telling the funny story!"

Ten full seconds of Marco vocalizing what would definitely have been some very _colourful_ insults had he been in his human form.

"Yeah, okay, I'll be more careful! Now, stay still, okay? Your long head feathers are really tricky to clean, and I don't think you'd appreciate me breaking another one."

Understanding dawns on Izo, and he steps away, his fingers going to his face in an attempt to hide the smile spreading across his features.

Luffy is _preening_ Marco!

Oh, this is too good to be true.

Izo legitimately cannot remember the last time his big brother had let anyone help preen him, and just the thought is making him feel giddy.

It's an intimate act, a form of bonding, and there is no clearer indicator of Marco's newfound trust in his diminutive captain.

Stepping away from the door without making his presence known, Izo turns and disappears down the ladder and back into the library.

The smile doesn't leave his face the rest of the night.

* * *

SkyGem: That's all for now, folks! I hope you enjoyed! Last chapter was kinda depressing . So I thought I'd let you guys off the hook for once and give you some fluff. I hope you enjoyed, and that it wasn't too boring. A lot of people were asking to see more Marco, and I live to serve, so hear you go! I know that for some of you, this chapter may have been straying into grey territory, but I'd just like to remind y'all that there isn't going to be any romance in this fic, so rest assured to anyone who was worried it would be heading that way. I just thought that this would be a cute way to show the trust that is slowly but surely building between Marco and his captain. But yeah, that's all I've got to say for now! Thanks so much for reading and please do leave a review letting me know what you thought, yes? Next chapter is going to be Fishman Island, and the Straw Hats' next new crewmate ;)

P.S. Just wanted to say that I'm also on tumblr, as skygemspeaks, and sometimes I get lonely on there. So feel free to shoot me some asks! And I also track the skygem tag in case anyone was wondering ;)


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